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Harvard Forest REU Symposium Abstract 2015

• Title: Will You Be My Neighbor? Community Distribution of Harvard Forest Ants
• Author: Lauren C Raiza (Fullerton College)
• Abstract:

  Ants are complex social creatures that live in a variety of habitats within the Harvard Forest in Central Massachusetts. They occupy trees, soil, and leaf litter and are responsible for breaking down decaying matter, aerating and producing soil, and even dispersing seeds. With all of these jobs to do and places to be, it is no wonder that the different genera and species of ants that occupy the Forest live very different lives. These ants’ lives intertwine when competition for habitat or other resources come into play, and these interactions may affect their selection of nesting sites. To examine which species of ants were likely to nest near one another, five thirty-six square meter plots were sampled within the forest to examine spatial distribution of nest sites. By examining spatial relationships between Aphaenogaster picea, Formica neogagates, Lasius nearcticus, Lasius umbratus, and Myrmica punctiventris much can be learned about the behavior of these ants and how their distribution can affect forest dynamics. Further investigation of these interspecies relationships may provide insight into nest site and neighbor selection behaviors in relation to competition.
  
  

• Research Category: Group Projects